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The Israeli-Palestinian Water Conflict
'''The Israeli-Palestinian Water Conflict''' The water conflict is one of the key problems in the conflicts between Palestine and Israel. The water conflict is the second largest problem after the issue of the ownership of Jerusalem. The conflict focuses on the fights for the underground water and the Jordan River. To solve the problem the two sides should build a mechanism under the trust in each other, try to reduce their stands on the water conflict, improve their water policies and cooperate with each other to face the water crises. Too much influence of politics and the lack of the investment make the conflict more difficult. '''Shared water resources''' The most important shared resource between Palestine and Israel is Mountain Aquifer, which is the underground water under the West Bank and Israel. This is the only remaining water resource in Palestine and one of the most important underground water resource of Israel. The Israeli government limits Palestine to 20% of the annual yield of Mountain Aquifer. Israel not only uses all the rest of the yield but also exploits more water resource of Mountain Aquifer for its use, which is unsustainable. The other shared water resource is Coastal Aquifer, which lies under coastal plain Israel and the Gaza Strip and supplies much more water resource to Israel than in Gaza. However, the water resource has been polluted and over-exploited in Gaza, 90%-95% of the water can't be drunk. The Jordan River is a very important water resource which flows through Israel and OPT. After 1967 Israel began to occupy West Bank and then Palestine was prevented from getting the water resource from the river. '''The Situation After 1967''' Since the Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza began in 1967, Israeli authority strengthened the control of the water resources and the infrastructure in its territory and classified all the water-resources data as the state secret. Some military orders were issued directly after the war and provided that the Israeli military owns absolute authority over the water issues in OPT. Palestine needs the permit of Israeli military for all the new infrastructure construction and all the land and water agreements which are prior to the Israel occupation don't work. Projects concerning water such as the internet, reservoir, and wells also required such permits. Actually, a huge number of applies for the permits were refused. Such limitations considerably restrict Palestinian to keeping the life standard and the development of the population. At the same time, the Israeli government develops and expands its water infrastructure in Israel and OPT. Many resources are used to improve the ability of exploitation of Israel. These actions continuously reduce the yields of Palestinian springs and wells. '''Oslo II''' In 1995, Oslo II agreement was signed between the Israeli government and Palestinian National Authority. Article 40 of the accord includes the stipulations about water resources and water pollution. It generally but not clearly recognizes the water rights of Palestine and returned some West Bank water resources and services responsibility to the PA. Oslo II protects the water rights of Palestine in theory. It takes the place of the codified inequities in the water relationship between Israel and Palestine and provides the frame of the development of water resources in the future. Although five years after the signing of Oslo II it ran out, the accord still governs the water domain of Palestine nowadays. '''The Role of the Wall in Securing More Water for Israel''' The actions of the Israeli government in order to establish and ensure the water-resources authority includes the construction of a 700-km wall which can prevent Palestinian from entering the most valuable parts of its territory. 80% of the wall was built in inside the boundaries of the West Bank, although it was built to improve the security measure. According to an October 2009 report by Amnesty International, the wall prevented Palestinian from getting into the areas which contain the most important water resources. '''Conclusion''' The Israeli government considers its unlimited right to get into West Bank and Gaza to be the unnegotiable rights and the center of its security. The action of Israeli military since 1967, the settlement expansion, and the construction of the wall are all limit to the Palestinian development of water resources and the concerning fields. These actions broke the international laws and made it more difficult to reach the two-sided solution. Sources: http://muftah.org/the-israeli-palestinian-water-conflict-by-ramzi-el-houry-3/#.WIhssRsrLIW http://wenku.baidu.com/view/ff168b56f01dc281e53af0d2.html